The Reds are commoners, ruled by
a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to seventeen-year-old
Mare, a Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will
ever change.

But Mare possesses a deadly power
of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of her potential, the
Silvers hide Mare in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess.
Knowing that one false move will mean her death, Mare must use her new position
to bring down the regime – from the inside.

Now Mare has entered a game of
betrayal and lies.

This is Reds against Silvers,
prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart…

History of my copy: I saw that the Red Queen was a hugely popular book in
the Bookstagram community, so I picked it up for a 3 for £10 deal on Amazon
along with the books I got my friend for her birthday.

At first, this book really did nothing for me. It was a
terrible mix of Baldacci’s The Finisher, Cass’ The Selection and Collins’ The
Hunger Games. However, I stuck with it and I am glad I did. It got better,
especially the last ten or so chapters.

I will also applaud Aveyard’s brilliant way of creating an
apartheid world. The whole idea of Red against Silver was different to
everything I’ve seen before, and I think it did make a good premise for a book
series.

Plot: Mare Barrow is a Red thief,
stealing to help her family survive in the Stilts. She is conscripted to war,
just like her brothers, best friend, and every other Red that doesn’t have a
job. However, she is ‘saved’ when a man, who turns out to be the heir to the
throne, Prince Callum, gets her a job as a servant. This doesn’t last very long
when, at Queenstrial (an event where the royal family chooses who the princes
should marry), they discovered that Mare has a power, just like the Silvers.

The Royal family promise her to Prince
Maven, disguising her as a Silver, where she will then secretly work with the
terrorist Scarlet Guard to bring an end to the superiority of the Silver rule
with the help of her future husband.

Setting: I love how different this
Dystopian world feels. I think the way Aveyard has conquered the differences
between how the Reds live compared to the Silvers was beautifully done. The
Silver cities and palaces are described in all their glory, whereas the Red
slums are depicted as the dirty, poverty-stricken places they are, and it
really feels like you are there.

Characters: This bit definitely contains
spoilers, so stop reading now if you don’t want the end to be ruined!

Firstly,
Mare, what a fantastic main character she is! She’s a heroine with realistic
flaws oh my! She is confused by what she is, and remains loyal to her people
until the very end. She totally does not deserve what happens to her.

I love Call too. He remains
loyal to his family, and cares about Mare. He does bad things, but he’s a soldier
and he carries out what his father expects of him. The moment when he was made
to kill the King broke my heart. I do hope him and Mare end up together and
ruling a just world, the Silver King and his Red Queen, a world in which people are equal, regardless of their
blood colour and powers.

Maven. What slimy scum! From the
start I wasn’t too sure on him. He seemed too nice and, as his mother’s son, I
felt like I couldn’t trust a thing he did. I was surprised he was actually
allowed to partake in the Scarlet Guard’s plans in the first place, I thought
they would have been too clever to fall for that. However, regardless of how
much I disliked him, I never thought he would be that evil! He truly is a villain
of villains.

To read or not to
read: Read. Read and persevere.
I nearly gave up on the book at one point, and there were many times I felt
like putting it down and leaving it for a while, but there’s a point you hit
and you just can’t put it down! I am looking forward to reading the sequel and
seeing what happens next.